Grim Forecast For Web Ads

“For local interactive media, the big slowdown has begun a year earlier than we anticipated,” the reports reads. “The spending levels by local advertisers — which have grown at a frenetic 47% this year — are expected to slow down to a relatively paltry 8% in 2009. Local media companies projecting double-digit and even triple-digit increases in their interactive budgets next year will have a very difficult time meeting those expectations — especially if they rely on banner ads.”